12 on the 12th | October

1. Eva playing games on nickjr.com before getting ready for school.
2. I got to pull off the tape from the first section of cupboards. Such a satisfying moment. (So very much more to go on that project.)
3. I decided to cook myself something good for breakfast (scrambled eggs with mushrooms, green onions, and fresh parmesan).
4. A picture at Eva's school that is made of the students' school pictures.
5. Eva's "All About Me" report hanging in the school hallway.
6. It was my first day of teaching art to Eva's class and this is the darling book I read to the kids. I highly recommend it.
7. Some of the kids working on their project (making a picture with only dots).
8. Eva sitting at her desk. She was positively preening to have me there (these are the days that end all too soon).
9. I love these fall sunsets where the mountains are pink.
10. I snapped this picture while Max was driving us to mutual.
11. I tried a new recipe to take to mutual (peanut butter pretzel bars). It didn't work out very well—way too crumbly—but it still tasted good.
12. One of our Laurels showed us a slide show of her trip to Europe.

Creative Friday

Monday was a minimal day, which means that everyone gets out of school extra-early, which means that Jill and Landon came over for Creative Friday! I never cared much for minimal days in the past, but now they're my new favorite days.

Lucas and Landon were excited to get together as well.

All I can say is that there's nothing like a photo to give you a reality check. Wow.

I had planned to work on putting some fabric in embroidery hoops for Eva's room, but ended up spending most of my time printing out worksheets for Conference this weekend.

Max took himself to his cello lesson (hallelujah!) and then joined us at the table to do homework. He signed himself up for 5 AP classes this semester, so the poor guy is almost always doing homework.

Eva joined us temporarily so she could draw a surprise for the end of the treasure hunt she made for Ava.

Jill working on her correspondence.

I can't remember what made Jill start laughing, but I thought it was adorable.

I put together these little handouts for my Beehives. (Apparently I neglected to mention that I was moved from YW secretary to 2nd counselor! oops.) It's just a token to help get them excited for Conference weekend! (Again, I love Pinterest.)

Also, I transferred a giant E to this pink fabric I bought last week. I'm going to sew vintage cream-colored buttons all over it and hang it on Eva's wall. Squeee!

Hooray for reconnecting. Hooray for Creative Friday (on Monday)!

Sunday thoughts

All last week, I worked (like crazy) on making quote books for camp.

People missed the deadline for submitting quotes (of course).


I spent quite a bit of time shopping, looking for paper that was cute and reasonably priced. I finally settled on kraft cardstock.

They took forever to format.

In all, about 8 hours of cutting was required (!). Fortunately, Michelle did about 3 hours of that for me, and Nicole helped with the hole punching. Another leader helped me finish the punching once we got to camp.


The girls loved them, so I suppose it was all worth it (but I hope I don't have that assignment again next year!).

A few of my favorite quotes from the books:

"There is no more compelling motivation to worthwhile endeavor than the knowledge that we are children of God, that God expects us to do something with our lives, and that He will give us help when help is sought." – Gordon B. Hinckley

"A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why ships are built." – John A. Shedd

"Many times I have been drawn to my knees by the sheer knowledge that there was nowhere else to go." – Abraham Lincoln

"Make sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm." – Abraham Lincoln

"It is not possible to sin enough to be happy. It isn't possible to buy enough to be happy, or to entertain or indulge or pamper ourselves enough to be happy. It is not possible to hide enough or run far enough away from trials and troubles to be happy. Happiness and joy come only when we are living up to who we are." – Sheri L. Dew

I especially love that last one.

girls' camp in pictures

I got back from camp today. It was my fifth time going as an adult, so I don't know how I managed to forget how tired I am after camp. Wow. I took a shower, did a little unpacking, did some laundry, loaded my photos, went to the grocery store, and took dinner to our YW president (her husband had surgery yesterday). I am wiped out!

I'm too tired to write much, so here are some of my camp pictures:


For our skit/lip sync, we were The Pirates Who Don't Do Evil Things.

The lovely fake bug that made the rounds in people's sleeping bags, etc. Our resident prankster leader stuck it in my hood, so I handed her the camera.


We had two minutes of silence on the lake and then we sang a song from our boats, which echoed around the area. It was really cool.

lake self-portrait

One of my favorite things about camp this year was getting to know all of the other leaders better. They are hilarious.

I was not the only one documenting our experience!

post-hike foot soak

post-hike treat, generously provided by the other ward in our shared campsite

our schedule for the week

There is nothing quite as great as guitars at camp.

I loved this ingenious music solution.

Laurel had this bug repellent contraption. She showed me just how well it was working.

I love being up in the mountains.

I taught a couple of people how to crochet flowers. (I learned how in a YouTube video just before departing for camp!)

Crafts, always a highlight of camp.

We used LOTS of bug spray.

Roasted Starbursts – one of the girls' favorite things. Me? Meh.

I do enjoy a good campfire (as long as the smoke isn't always wafting into my face).

The girls were good about following the no-prank rule. The leaders, not so much.

Can you see the rainbow?

We had such a huge storm! It lasted almost 24 hours and included cabin-rattling thunder, lightning, hail, falling trees, and the hardest rain I've ever seen.


We had to hold the lip sync at the stake pavilion instead of outside in the amphitheater. It was crowded and oh so cold, but the girls were as enthusiastic as ever.

We had several deer that came right up to our campsite! I loved it. I also saw two moose, and the other leaders in my car spotted a bear (I wanted to see that).

I decided that I just hate flag ceremony. It throws into sharp relief how un-fun I am. I hate singing silly songs and doing actions to go with them. It's pretty much torture for me. And it made me question my legitimacy as a leader at camp. And there was a 45 degree incline to get down (and up again). And we have to do it twice a day...

Of course we had to make s'mores one night.

to sum up:

Camp was good.
It was hard.
It was hot.
It was wet.
It was freezing.
It was an invaluable experience for us all to learn and make memories together.
It was exhausting.

I'm glad I went, but I am also so very glad to be home.

Sunday thoughts on Monday

I taught the combined YW Easter lesson yesterday.

I find it difficult to teach about the Atonement – it is so huge, so vitally important, and I really wanted them to feel the Spirit.

I think the lesson went pretty well, but the best parts were the very beginning and the very end.

Right before I started to teach, the bishop came in to thank the young women and leaders for coming to the service project we had on Saturday morning. While he was there, he shared some thoughts about Easter. He had arisen early to study the accounts of the Savior's suffering in Gethsemane, crucifixion, and resurrection in the four gospels. During his study, he was struck by the women in the Savior's life. He imagined how difficult it must have been for Mary, to witness the abuse that was heaped upon her son, to see him killed. When even Jesus's disciples fled, and Peter denied knowing him, the two Marys and Martha stayed, lending what support they could. And women were the first to see the resurrected Lord.

He encouraged us all to be women who follow the Savior, who are not afraid to know him, to testify of him. I loved his perspective, and he set just the right tone for my lesson. Everyone was listening with rapt attention.

Earlier that morning, I felt inspired to have us sing I Know That My Redeemer Lives at the end of the lesson. I finished 5 minutes early so that we would have time to sing all 4 verses. I love that hymn, and never can sing it without feeling more grateful for the Savior and his offering to us. It was a joyous thing.

So... I don't remember a whole lot about what came in the middle. But at least I know the beginning and the end were good!

Last year, when my grandmother died right before Easter, the celebration was deeper for me. I felt that Easter would never be the same for me again. I had a wonderful, happy day yesterday, thinking of the blessings of the Atonement and the resurrection.

I hope you had a beautiful Easter as well.